Naruto: The Last Hope
by Spartan Of Hope
Summary: One hundred and fifty years after Master Chief's disappearance, in the year 2673, a new line of Spartans have been created, with strange and unique abilities… or should I say, kekkei genkais? *A Naruto-Halo cross over*
1. Prologue

One hundred and fifty years after Master Chief's disappearance, in the year 2673, a new line of Spartans have arisen, with strange and frightening abilities… or should I say, kekkei genkais? *A Naru-Halo X*

**Hi Everyone! I'm so excited to get my first ever story out there! I don't have everything planned, so if you have any suggestions about story-line, feel free to throw 'em at me. Thanks a bunch!**

**There is no foul language in any of my chapters, and no dirty talk about guys or gals. There is, however, violence, being it Halo and all. That's why its rated T.**

**This is mixing Naruto and Halo, NOT one going over to the other one's universe… I hate to admit it, but Naruto/gang would be pretty well dead if they popped on over to the Spartan's universe.**

**(Note: This story may not make sense if you haven't played/read at least Halo 2 and 3.) This is my first story, so please leave feedback, negative or positive! And please, if I have something majorly wrong about Halo (Besides the fact that I'm adding Naruto :D), inform me…**

**One other thing! At the bottom of each chapter will be a random fact about Naruto/Halo.**

**Thanks again, and enjoy!**

**_Prologue:_**

**_ The war has started up again. The prophets weren't the only ones of their kind, and now they're back, and more powerful than ever._**

**_ The new 'prophets', the prophets of Revenge, Persistence and Authority, have discovered/created new, more dangerous technologies, as well as super-sized Brutes (As though they weren't large enough), extremely quick Jackals and virtually invincible Hunters._**

_ Their purpose of this war? They're covenant: they fight._

_Revenge claims it's purpose is to kill the humans that destroyed the greatest hopes for 'salvation', Persistence claims it is because the new ring, despite being smaller than its deceased cousins, could still wipe out half a universe, and Authority claimed that for peace to be found for the covenant, they must rule all planets and galaxies… or destroy them._

_ But that's not the worst of it._

_They also discovered a rare crystal, Juolazyll (Ju-oh-la-zill), which had the potential to destroy whole species, if in the right conditions… and deposits of it are on the latest Halo ring, one that was not yet discovered by humanity._

_Juolazyll was a crystal that, once breathed in or eaten, would start working itself through the body, slowly shutting down vital organs, causing sudden, painless death._

_ Once it had killed its victim, it would seek another body, and start spreading itself like a plague: but it would only attack creatures that were the exact same species as the first victim._

_ At first the Covenant hoped to use it on humans. But when they discovered how rare it was and how difficult to get (At this time they had lost thirty brutes to get two grams), they chose instead to use it on Spartans that they knew the humans would make when the war that they were planning began. That way, the Covenant wouldn't have to deal with the 'slight advantage they bring our enemies', as Authority put it._

_ However, Juolazyll was found to be an extremely dense and dangerously explosive crystal, which partially explained its rarity. The covenant could not simply shoot the red crystal at the Spartans for fear of in-gun explosions, but they plan to find another way to wipe out the super-soldiers using it…_

Meanwhile…

_ For a long while, the Spartan program was cancelled: there was no need for the super-soldiers if there was no war. But in the year 2594, covenant forces were spotted, and the Spartan creation started up again. Then, in the year 2600, the covenant attacked. However, the humans had also had time to grow and form technologies, and despite having paused Spartan creation, they hadn't stopped research in the Spartan program…_

_ In the year 2609, after nine years of battle against the covenant (Though many Elites chose to help the humans this time), humans were getting desperate. They allowed inhumane experiments on their own kind so they could find a way to make even more powerful Spartans. Then, it happened._

_ Professor Asa Vassar, a geneticist who was working on improving the abilities of Spartans, discovered a special line of genetics that could be created by mixing certain very delicate strains of Spartan DNA with a tiny bit of Nyzene (A recently discovered, extremely rare element ,By doing so, he found he could get Spartans with a whole new set of abilities. At first, these Spartans were very physically random –often born mutated– with random special abilities, and some even had mental disorders. _

_ Very few turned out well, and so Vassar was ordered to call off his research, due to the expenses and waste of time and materials. But Vassar was determined: he had come so far! So he and a few other scientists who believed in his work secretly continued the research, killing all subjects that didn't turn out how they desired, covering the evidence very carefully and thoroughly. They separated and purified different genetics and DNA, learning many secrets about Nyzene that they didn't know before. But not six years later, Vassar was discovered, and was given a life-sentence for 'repeatedly disobeying an extremely clear order' and 'stealing and wasting precious materials', as well as every other crime the judge could think of that may have applied to him._

_ However, the people who discovered him (Fellow scientists) took a look at his research, and his Spartans he had been keeping a secret: four infant ones, each already given the name 'Hokage' and assigned a number. The scientists couldn't believe what they found._

_ The new Spartans grew quickly until they were eight, then only slightly faster than normal humans and, according to what Vassar had predicted in his research, would slow down their growing majorly around their peak, age twenty. They wouldn't live more than forty years, but that was still huge considering how long other Spartans lived._

_ Also, Vassar had written in his research a bunch of different types of gene-types and 'future clones' he had prepared. Each gene-type would supposedly hail a Spartan with a different ability, and, though Vassar knew he would eventually be found out, he had hoped to make 'clans' of the Spartans, which could have been disastrous._

_ But still, it amazed everyone what he had accomplished. But there was one problem: the mental status of the Spartans. All the research to make them physically amazing in a virtually impossible way had cost them something: emotional and mental strength. They were still mentally stable, but the Spartans were no longer 'born leaders', though they still knew how to use a weapon the moment they saw it. The Spartans were still strong minded, but they would be born with a wide variety of personalities, mental strengths and weaknesses… and emotional security. _

_But the scientists knew that these new Spartans had to be made: they were the only way to win the war. And that's when it all began…_

_ Now, about fifty years later (the year 2673), is when our story starts. The war has raged on, one of the longest wars since the covenant was discovered._

This is the story of the New Spartans, their thoughts, feelings and adventures. This is the story of one young Spartan, given the strange name Naruto, who made all the difference in the war. This is his story, and the story of his friends.

(Have fun reading!!! I'm almost done with chapter one, so I'll have that out soon.)


	2. Chapter 1: A Special Assignment

**Hey all! I just wanted to say, wow and thanks!**

**Also, I don't own Naruto or Halo, or any of the characters.**

**Here's chapter one. **

**One thing I forgot to mention: This story basically starts near the beginning of the Naruto series: No Shippuuden within. Just thought I'd clear that up!**

**I updated this chapter just a little.  
**

Chapter One: A Special Assignment

"On your right!" The marine yelled.

The Spartan had already seen the wraith-blast coming and had dashed to the left, avoiding it easily. He threw a homing-plasma grenade as hard as he could, straight towards the wraith, which veered to the right to avoid it; but failed. He turned his back to it to blast down a troop of grunts that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Sir, we've got a pack of Super Brutes flanking us!" He turned to give an annoyed look at the young marine who had just shouted the news from where he was taking cover.

"Where," he demanded.

The marine pointed to the edge of the bridge they were standing on, in the opposite direction of the now-destroyed wraith. Climbing up the edge of the bridge were four of the covenant's latest fashion statements; Super Brutes.

Unlike normal brutes, Super Brutes had no trouble surviving grenade-sticks, and even if their armor was destroyed by a plasma pistol, a single magnum blast to the head wouldn't kill them. A melee battle was out of the question.

The Spartan rolled his eyes, though the action wasn't seen by the marine.

"Watch my back," he said, and with that he charged.

By the time he was going full speed the Super Brutes were all on the bridge, proudly yelling their battle cries. Unfortunately for the Spartan, that meant happy Grunts, and happy Grunts were annoying Grunts.

Suddenly a crackling came through the Spartan's helmet, and a female voice spoke. "Spartan K-07, do you copy? You're needed at-"

"A little busy here," he replied curtly, dodging a grunt-thrown grenade and blasting a suicide grunt. The woman continued trying to get his attention, but he tuned her out quickly.

At a distance of 15 yards he threw a fragment grenade at the Super Brutes, who had just finished their battle cries. He knew what their response would be, but it was old habit to test his enemies.

He smirked as they did just what he predicted: three of them took a large step away and the forth one (The leader) kicked the grenade off the edge before it even exploded.

Yes, there was one fairly significant disadvantage the SuBru's (Super Brutes) had: they had only half the brains that normal brutes had.

Half the brains, double the brawl.

His next move was one he had done many times before, so many times it was almost boring; except for the fact that he usually did it with normal brutes, when there was a whole clan (eight to twelve). He pulled the pin on another grenade as the SuBru raised their weapons at him and began firing. Now he stopped moving forward and started dodging back and forth. He waited a whole second before throwing the frag grenade. Then, as he threw it, he immediately prepared an HPG (Homing-plasma-grenade).

The SuBru, dense as they were, began to repeat the same maneuver they had earlier. But this time, when the leader kicked the grenade, it exploded on his foot. He let out a startled cry (More of a roar), and his comrades were momentarily distracted; at the very moment Spartan K-07 threw the HPG.

The grenade hit the leader smack in the face, in the only place on his face that there wasn't armor.

The leader, aware now of his fate, clawed wildly at the grenade and let out a blood-curdling scream. For a moment, everything seemed to pause; the grunts stopped shooting, the SuBru stared in awe, and some marine gave a whoop of joy.

Then: BAM! The HPG exploded, and the lead SuBru fell to the ground, dead.

Had the stick been anywhere besides his face, it would have hardly scratched him.

Suddenly everything came back to life. The grunts started running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and the SuBru aimed their guns and took fire on K-07. He quickly took cover to let his shields recharge and let out a little sigh, glad that the most dangerous was dead.

Not like the others would be trouble, if his next trick worked out.

He dashed back into the open and began to fire his SMG at the remaining three SuBru, hoping to keep them at bay until he could find more grenades. However, the SuBru had other plans.

As though reading his mind, two yelled in unison and began to rampage.

The Spartan glanced quickly back and forth, and for a moment, closed his eyes and listened to his senses.

He could hear the marines shouting behind him, keeping distant jackals at bay; the sound of the ODST, announcing that they were preparing to blow the bridge. He felt the rumble of the ground as some marine used a rocket launcher to destroy a ghost; the feeling of a plasma bolt singe on his shield before a marine killed the grunt that shot at him. Hear. Feel. See.

He opened his eyes, and looked up. One SuBru was ten feet away, and was about to leap forward. The other one was bolting forward, holding a grenade in his hand, prepared to stuff it up the Spartan's helmet. The SuBru that didn't charge was cheering him on dumbly instead of shooting, certain of their victory.

K-07 flexed his fingers. "Here we go."

He waited till the last moment, as the SuBru came flying through the air with deadly momentum and power. At the moment before the monster should have hit him, his hand suddenly glowed with energy, and the sound of a thousand birds could be heard for a moment.

The SuBru saw it coming, but had no chance to stop. K-07 thrust his whole body upwards with incredible speed and as much force as he could muster, his lightning-filled hand leading, into the creature's chest.

"Lighting Fist!" He shouted.

The brute armor shattered to pieces as the Spartan's hand went right through it and into the SuBru's solid body. The SuBru was stopped in place. He opened his mouth, trying to cry out, but nothing came out but a little blood. His fists, which had been balled up to smash the Spartan's head in, suddenly twitched randomly, then the whole body went limp.

This happened in just over a second.

The Spartan used his foot to get his hand out of the SuBru's body, then shook off the blood; his hand had gone in farther than he had thought it would. His shields were down all the way, due to the force that the brute hit them with, and K-07 felt a twinge of pain vibrate through his arm. He looked around and frowned at the suddenly hopeless situation around him:

The SuBru with the grenade was only a second away from reaching him; the other SuBru was already raising his guns to attack, not smart enough to feel fear. Two grunts were going suicide in the Spartan's direction. Three marines went flying off the bridge as a grunt's grenade blew up on them. A covenant drop ship could be seen in the distance, coming closer.

K-07, though worn from using one Lighting Fist, calmly began to prepare another one…

But it turned out he didn't have to.

"Hiiiiiya!"

As the masculine voice shouted its battle cry, the remaining charging SuBru was suddenly slammed on the side, with hard enough force to send the 1200 pound creature tumbling over the bridge. Before the remaining one could even react, he had three plasma grenades stuck to his body, under the gaps in his armor. The two suicide grunts were shot in the head by pistols, and the grenades they were holding exploded around the other grunts sending them flying as well.

As the rubble cleared, K-07 saw the source of the chaos; Spartan G-11.

"Gui." He said under his breath. He straightened, hiding his annoyance well.

"Ha-ha! Men! Move forward and help secure this area!" Shouted the Spartan Gui with enthusiasm.

His visor was clear, so his face could be seen; he was smirking with pride as his squad of marines gave an 'Ooh rah!' and ran forward to help the remaining marines.

Then, as if noticing K-07 for the first time, he turned to him and pointed. "Kakashi! I knew I'd have to save you when I first set foot on this bridge."

"Gui." K-07, or Kakashi, said quietly. "You missed one."

Kakashi aimed the pistol he was holding directly at Gui's head. Quick to react, Gui ducked just in time as Kakashi shot the magnum pistol and hit a shieldless jackal that had been directly behind Gui in the head. Gui looked quickly behind him, seemingly surprised, and even more so when he saw the jackal held a sniper rifle.

"Now, what were you saying about the bridge?" Kakashi asked mildly.

Before Gui had time to react, Commander Mikhail Ytriun's (yih-tree-oon) voice came through the helmets of everyone there, announcing victory:

"Good work, everyone. We have pickup on the way. ODST, light those remaining charges and prepare to blow her."

Kakashi and Gui immediately began shooting down the remaining covenant forces, covering the ODST as the pickup ships began to set down. Two of them stopped and destroyed the covenant drop ship before landing.

"Charges lit!" An ODST announced through the helmet com. "Blowing in five!"

By this time, all the marines were loaded up, and the ODST were on the far edge of the bridge.

"Spartans K-07 and G-11, get on a cruiser," Ytriun commanded. "The ODST will clean up any stragglers. I have a… special assignment for you."

The Spartans glanced at each other, and then boarded the remaining cruiser silently. Whatever the commander had in mind, he didn't bother telling them.


	3. Chapter 2: Short Notice

**Hey, thanks for the review!**

**And the reminder.**

**Yes, so everyone knows, I don't own any Naruto characters or Halo characters.**

**Thanks for reading all, and feel free to leave reviews!**

Chapter Two: Short Notice

---Back at Base---

Commander Ytruin sighed and smoothed his grey hair for the fifth time that minute. He stared out the window at the beautiful meadows of safari grass. New Napora, the most recent and technologically updated city on earth, was where Base 93 was located… and that was where Ytruin currently stood.

But the beauty of the outdoors hardly made him happy. He shook his head and picked up his coffee.

"Darn. They aren't gonna take it well," he said, seemingly talking to himself.

"If only I'd been given more notice…" he shook his head again, sighing roughly, then slammed his coffee cup onto the table, spilling a little with the force.

"What am I gonna tell them, Jinx? K-07 is going to be mad as a hornet!"

The super-computer that was in the room, Jinx, suddenly popped up as an image in front of the Commander, on a little podium. She crossed her arms.

"Well, Gui will take it well. I think he's wanted this secretly for a while," she said thoughtfully.

"And Kakashi…" She spoke slowly: "Well, he's pretty good at taking orders…"

Ytruin frowned at her. "Good at taking orders, but will he be tolerant of them? Three is an awful lot to put on a team."

Jinx nodded, hands on her hips.

"Maybe it is, but ever since the New Spartan program has started, that's the way it's been. K-07 knew that he would have to take on a squad sooner or later. I think he'd only be unhappy because of the short notice. Besides," she continued cheerily, "you know what he's like… perhaps if you gave him certain students…" she smiled at Ytruin, as he picked up his coffee and took another sip.

"Anyway, you can't be sure he won't enjoy having some kids around! Even if he doesn't let it show, he may actually be looking forward to this. The profiles of these students are very interesting…"

Ytriun sighed again, then put his free hand on his hip thoughtfully, biting at his lower lip. He paused a moment, then nodded.

"We get to bring 12 out of the twenty-seven most recent young Spartans here, and the Admiral is allowing us _first choice_… an _incredible_ privilege and opportunity… but only available if we choose them soon! I have to have them chosen by tomorrow evening, and I don't even get to see them in person first! Only these info cards…" he trailed off as he flicked a switch that made an image of a card with a picture on it pop up next to Jinx.

Jinx brushed back a bit of her messy black hair as she observed the card. "Hmm… that's an interesting one."

Ytruin blinked and looked at the card. "I chose it randomly," he said as he observed the boy on it. He frowned.

The Spartan was wearing grey armor with a dull green tint, but the visor of the helmet was completely black. No emotion could be seen in the Spartan's stance. Also, the armor had tiny holes on the hands, and the visor itself was a unique shape.

That fact alone clearly marked the Spartan as an 'Aburame' type, one of the larger and closer-knit groups of Spartans… though definitely nowhere near as annoyingly private as the Hyuga type.

"Spartan Aburame Shino… he doesn't have his code name yet," Jinx said casually. "Interesting… usually the Aburame don't stray to far from the nest, but he's on the list of the twenty seven to choose from."

Ytruin rolled his eyes. He knew Jinx well enough to know that she was about to rant…

"The Aburame have a very special ability, as many 'clans' do. They have the ability to communicate with and control tiny, deadly poisonous red beetles that grow inside their bodies. Recently, they have experimented on these beetles (Humanely, of course… what Aburame would hurt a bug? Anyway,) and made mutated ones that feed on enemy shields and plasma, when told to. That's why the armor has tiny holes in the hands; the beetles can go through the shields that protect the Spartan with no problem, but they'll eat away at the plasma shields of jackals. They're highly effective against grunts and jackals, but heavier armored beings are a bit of a pain…"

She looked at the Commander quizzically. "You know, he wouldn't be such a bad idea…"

Ytruin looked up from the newspaper he had been side-glancing at on the table. He almost looked surprised that Jinx was done talking.

He nodded, then flipped to another card. "You know what, Jinx? I think I'll let all four of our A-class Jonin help choose their students. I know that at least one of them has been looking forward to this for a long time."

Ytriun straightened. "Tell them to meet me here in one hour. That's about the time K-07 and G-11 should be back." He began to walk towards the door.

Jinx nodded and began to send out the signal order, her image disappearing from sight.

"I'm going to take a peek at the cards in my room; I'll be back in half. And Jinx," he said, turning to face her.

She popped back up on the image platform, a questioning look on her face.

"Tell K-07 it's important… _don't_ be late."

Jinx smirked and nodded as Ytruin left. K-07 was well known for being as late as possible without getting in trouble. His timing never failed to surprise her, yet he always completed his missions as commanded.

Jinx didn't know him well, and so didn't know when or why he had formed that habit; after all, Jinx was the youngest super computer there. She hadn't even chosen a Spartan for herself… but now, she'd probably have to choose a squad.

She shook her head and made her image disappear. It was going to be a long day…

(Coming soon: **Chapter three: Squad Up!**)


	4. Chapter 3: Squad Up! Part One

**This is a longer chapter, so I've split it into two. Hope you like it! Please comment if you have anything to say.**

Chapter Three: Squad Up!

**Part One: Asuma and Gui**

"Kurenai Yuhi, Spartan Y-08, reporting."

"Asuma Sarutobi, Spartan A-10, reporting."

"Maito Gui, Spartan G-11, reporting!"

Commander Ytriun turned to face the Spartans that stood at attention near the door.

He smiled a greeting at them, mainly the one known as Kurenai.

Kurenai Yuhi was said to be the most beautiful Spartan ever created, though, she was seldom found out of her armor, and was always wearing basic if she was. She wore mysterious dark rose-red armor, and currently her visor was down; he could see her serious red eyes, waiting for a command, betraying the slight smile on her lips.

He forced his attention away from her and towards the door. Sometimes he thought it was her Special Spartan Ability (SSA) that made people so drawn to her; she was able to manipulate the feelings and thoughts of those around her, which came in very handy against weaker-minded enemies.

He frowned, his attention suddenly brought to the fact that there were only three Spartans standing before him.

"Darn. I should have known he'd be late," he said quietly.

He straightened and looked over the three before him.

"Welcome, and good job on the field. I've been hearing good reports about mission progress against the covenant at our various locations and bases. I'm sure you've all guessed why I've brought you here."

He glanced at the door and sighed.

"First off, I'm sorry about the short notice. Looks like not everyone took it so well. Spartan Gui, have you seen-"

"Not sense we left the cruiser, sir." Gui reported with a grimace.

Ytriun nodded. "Figures. Anyway, we'll have to begin without him. At ease."

As the Spartans relaxed (with the exception of Gui), Ytriun began explaining;

"As you know, a new generation of Spartans is being raised… Special Spartans, like you. And as you know, until they're ready for field work, all the young Spartans are kept together and trained in a similar fashion, by marines and older commanders, and an occasional Spartan supervisor of C-rank power."

He looked at Asuma, who's face showed that he just realized what was about to happen. There was no discontent, though, just laid back amusement.

Asuma Sarutobi wore seemingly rusty-brown armor, with darker brown as a secondary color. However, like most Spartans, he had a unique and special part of his armor, so his SSA could be used without hinder… or so he claimed. It was a vent-type air releaser near his mouth, which could come in handy for some things, but all Ytruin had ever seen him use it for was smoking.

"Well, now, I'm sure you're all familiar with Admiral Tasha K'torski of Home Base 15."

He watched the various expressions on the Spartans' faces. Asuma's eyebrows raised in question, Gui gave a dutiful nod, and Kurenai just frowned.

Ytruin continued, though he knew that they all knew what she did and what was coming;

"Admiral K'torski has twenty-seven new young Spartans who passed the test that is given… and that's more than we've ever had to deal with. In fact, it's more than are really allowed to… uh, 'exist' I suppose, at the same time. So, she took a good look around and saw that our base only has one existing squad of youngsters, the Sand Squad, and she saw that we have four perfectly good A-ranked and higher Spartans available to teach squads."

He paused for a moment, smiling to lighten the mood. He was about to keep speaking when there was a knock at the door. He frowned.

"You're late, Spartan!" He said loudly.

The door knob slowly turned, and the door opened, to reveal who else but "K-07, Kakashi Hatake, reporting for duty."

The silver-clad Spartan stepped into the room, holding up his left hand to support a floating 'Tech-Book', a less breakable and easier to haul around version of a normal book.

He looked up casually and lowered his hand, and the image disappeared.

"Sorry I'm late. I was stopped for one of those random physicals the medics make you do when they're bored. Hope I didn't keep you waiting to long."

His last sentence was almost too cheery, and it made Ytriun boil inside. He glanced at his watch and frowned. As usual, K-07 was within the time-limit of 'lateness' that was allowed without penalty. Huh. Ten seconds within the time-limit.

"Actually," Kurenai began with a hint of annoyance, "We didn't wait for you. Please, Commander, continue."

Ytriun smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "Thank you. Where was I? Oh, yes… that's right. I was just getting to the main point here."

He snapped his fingers and Jinx appeared on her usual platform in the room. Her arms were crossed and she looked over the Spartans with the look of a scientist studying failing experiments. Apparently, the Computer was in a bad mood.

"You have each been ordered to take on a squad," Ytriun continued, "And each squad will consist of three young Spartans, thirteen or younger, out of the twelve we have chosen. And about that! The Admiral has given us the _huge_ privilege of getting first choice in students. I don't know why, but I decided it was best not to ask, and instead to simply accept the privilege and responsibility we have been given. Jinx and I looked over the profiles last night, and we've chosen the twelve that we believe will be best suited to you four. Now…"

He made a hand motion towards Jinx, and a card-shaped holographic image popped up next to her. It was about the size of a computer screen, and it had a picture of a young Spartan on it, none specific. It was the automatic card that always came up first.

"You will have some choice of which students you take out of the twelve, but there are some students which we have chosen for you. We aren't going to go over every card individually, but when you get your students, I will hand you your cards," he said.

He pulled out of his pocket a 'card chip', which was just a small chip a Spartan could insert into his or her helmet to get a view of the card of their student.

"Asuma Sarutobi, let's start with you," Ytriun said.

Asuma nodded once and stepped forward. Jinx smiled and shifted her stance, then turned to look at the card she was bringing up. Asuma smiled as he recognized the faces of the three Spartans in sight.

"Asuma," she began, "Your students are all already chosen for you. As I recall, you were good friends with the Spartans Chouza, Inoichi and Shikaku, the three shown here, who were all on a squad and all —remarkably— made it to adulthood. Well, apparently, they're well liked by Admiral K'torski, and so have each been given the privilege of having another Spartan added to their clans. That was, of course, twelve or so years ago." She crossed her arms and cocked her head towards the new pictures that had appeared now on the holocard, the faces of three similar but younger versions of the first three shown. Asuma smiled when he noticed the girl, obviously relative of Inoichi.

"Now that their young Spartans have passed the test, the Ino-Shika-Cho squad requested to have all three placed students on the same squad, just as they were. Since that arrangement seemed to go well the first time, the Admiral agreed. And since the current Ino-Shika-Cho squad has important jobs where they are, they will only have time to do SSA training with the clanlings."

She smiled at her own words, then continued: "They trust you, and so requested that their… 'offspring', to put it in human terms, be put under your care, if you so agree. They would like you to become the students' permanent teacher, their 'sensei.'"

Asuma nodded, smiling. "Yes, I am aware of their request. They actually asked me personally, and I've already unofficially agreed to it."

Jinx nodded, yet looked impatient. "Congratulations. You just officially agreed to it. Your squad will be known as squad ten." She turned her attention to the other Spartans.

"Spartan Gui, you requested a specific student, one you had trained with before?" She asked, looking at another profile.

Gui nodded eagerly as a picture of another young Spartan came up. "Yes, ma'am. Rock Lee, Spartan Code Jr-L-12."

Jinx frowned as she brought up the card. Kakashi smirked, unseen, as he noted the appearance of the youngster; basically a Jr. Gui. "You're lucky I even kept this one," Jinx continued, studying the card thoroughly. "If you hadn't shown interest in Spartan Lee, we wouldn't have even considered him."

She looked up at Gui. "Are you aware that he was born without the Special ability common of his clan? In fact, he's the one-in-a-million-Spartan that won't ever have a special ability; He's just like the old fashion kind, nothing special at all…"

Gui nodded. "I am aware that he has no SSA, but I disagree with your notion that he isn't special." Gui got a distant look, and Kakashi sighed quietly. _Here we go…_

"Lee is incredible in his own way, and even with his disadvantage comes new advantages… the advantage of a burning spirit, and an undying will of fire! He's the imperfect version of the perfect Spartan, with an unbreakable spirit of youth, and the power to overcome any obstacle with sheer willpower! He's the ultimate example of a student, the stunning vision of the old-fashioned Spartan spirit! I've seen him train before, and I myself was truly impressed!"

Ytriun hid a smile, but Jinx just frowned. "Where did you meet him? He wasn't around here recently, was he?"

Gui shifted his stance. "Oh, yes… well, it's a long story…" He had met Lee on a recent mission, but he didn't have time to explain all the details. However, he did know that no matter what, he had to have Lee on his squad. He shrugged to indicate that he story was a lengthy one, and Jinx nodded.

"Okay, if that's what you want. As for the other two students, since you got the first choice of students, you get whoever's left over for your other two."

Gui nodded.

Jinx turned to Kurenai, and sighed. Kurenai straightened. She could tell something was up. "Kurenai," Jinx began, bringing up a card, "there's something quite special about your first squad member…"


	5. Chapter 3: Squad Up! Part Two

So sorry it took so long! I had a baby goat, and it wasn't healthy, and I was trying to save it…

Sorry, off subject. But here it is! I WILL have the next part out sooner. Thanks all for your patience!

Also, for those who are wondering about cloning: Thank you for the reviews.

However, do note that I put in the prologue that this is many years after Master Chief disappeared, and things have changed. And though it's not specified below, Hinata was only a half-clone of Hiashi (Half the DNA taken to make her clone was his), and the other half was from Hinata's mother. All clones are half-and-half clones of this type.

Because of the change in technology, cloning now works fine in 75% of the cases, though, like I mentioned earlier, the Spartan's are not always mentally perfect. I was going to specify this in a later chapter, but I thought I might as well put it here.

But thanks again for the reviews, they really help me clear things up here!

Chapter Three: Squad Up!

**Part Two: Kurenai's Squad**

(Recap!)

Jinx turned to Kurenai, and sighed. Kurenai straightened. She could tell something was up. "Kurenai," Jinx began, bringing up a card, "there's something quite special about your first squad member…"

Kurenai blinked in surprise as the card came up. "Is that… a Hyuga girl?" she asked. Kakashi looked up from the book he had taken out and started reading.

Jinx nodded. "Not only that, but she's a main-branch Hyuga…"

Now even Asuma made a grunt of surprise. "Main branch?"

Kurenai shook her head. "But-how is that possible? I thought that they specially trained all of their main-branch members, never letting them leave the nest until they were sure they could survive! And even then, they keep close tabs on them."

Jinx nodded, frowning. "She was cloned from a main branch Hyuga named Hiashi, and as you know, the Hyuga are allowed to raise their clones like children. Well… turns out this one, Hinata Hyuga, didn't get the normal natural talent found in main-branch Hyuga… or so Hiashi claimed."

Jinx was silent a moment, and Ytriun knew that she wanted to outright-insult Hiashi right there, but she held her tongue.

Jinx spoke slowly then. "However, since she's main branch, and his 'direct descendant', he couldn't simply give her the side-branch mark and send her off; that would disgrace him."

The last words she said were bitter, and she paused a moment, glancing at Ytriun, who gave her a warning look. Kakashi caught the look, but didn't say anything.

"So," Jinx continued, a little lighter, "He specifically asked for Kurenai Yuhi to train her. He's heard of you, Kurenai, and knows that you're a reliable Spartan."

Kurenai frowned. "This is a rather unusual situation… even if she doesn't have a lot of natural talent, wouldn't he want to—"

"He specifically said, word for word, 'her younger sister outdoes her by five years; she carries no talent of the main branch'!" Jinx said bitterly.

"He doesn't seem to like her at all, to put it nicely. Oh, and he didn't ask you to train her—he demanded you did."

Kurenai bit her lip. Asuma shifted.

"Alright, calm down everyone," Ytriun said softly. "Kurenai… you get to choose your other two students from this list."

Kurenai just stared at Ytriun as the list came up. Then she frowned. "Commander, can't I at least talk to him?"

Ytriun turned an icy gaze upon her. "Nothing you say to him will change his mind. The matter is closed. Jinx!"

Jinx brought up three images at once, so Kurenai could compare a few.

"Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and… side-branch Hyuga Neji."

Jinx looked at Kurenai.

"He's Hinata's cousin, and he was originally going to be her guardian."

Kurenai nodded slowly. Everyone knew of the Hyuga's strict methods that kept their clan in control:

There were two branches of the Hyuga: The main branch and the side branch.

The main branch was small and strong, carefully bred and well kept, spoiled and yet worked hard. They ruled over the side-branch with as much cruelty or compassion as they chose, with next to no rules placed over them by the humans around them. They kept the power behind their abilities a secret, only revealing a little to the side-branches. Nobody really knew why the Admirals never placed restrictions on them—some rumored it was because the clan was too strong to be controlled.

The side branch was slightly larger than the main branch, and were just as carefully bred and well kept. But there was one large factor that set them aside from the main branch: the mark on their forehead.

The mark was more than a symbol; in a way, it controlled them.

If a main branch so chose, he could simply shift his hand position and kill a side branch member. But what the mark really did was, through some use of technology, allow the main branch to mentally command the side branch to do whatever they wanted them to do. If the side branch didn't obey the unspoken command, great pain would come upon them, worse than the worst migraine.

If they mentally submitted, they would often be allowed to live-but not always.

Their only purpose in life was to protect the secrets and heirs of the main branch Hyuga. They were trapped in this life, like a caged bird.

The Hyuga before the group of Spartans now, Neji Hyuga, had been cloned to be a protector of Hinata Hyuga—before Hiashi found out how weak she was. Now, he seemed to have no care or thought of Neji, and so had allowed the boy to join an 'out-squad'. Neji's own 'father', Hizashi, who had been an accidental twin clone of Hiashi, had died some years ago when Neji was young, so Neji had no real teacher.

Kurenai looked on thoughtfully. "Then maybe he would be a good choice for a second squad member, so Hinata had her guardian. I choose Neji Hyuga as my second squad member."

Both Gui and Kakashi looked up in protest, but Kakashi spoke first; "I don't think that would be such a good idea, Yuhi."

Kurenai looked at him with annoyance, mostly because he had intruded on her choosing her own squad members, but her annoyance was also fueled by him calling her by her 'last name'.

"And what makes you say that?" she demanded.

Kakashi shrugged; "Well, I'm no expert on Hyuga life patterns, but I do know a few things on slavery (Ytriun gave him a look, which he either ignored or didn't notice), and if you put Hinata and that boy on the same squad, believe me: you'll never have peace within the squad."

Kurenai was at first angry, but then saw his point and frowned. She sighed. She suddenly felt tired.

"Alright, then, I'll just take the other two that are up there—I choose Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka as my second and third squad members. That's my final choice."

Jinx nodded; she was secretly glad she had shown the cards of the three that she thought would go well with Hinata.

Then she turned to K-07. "Kakashi, it's your turn; choose three of the five remaining students to make up your squad."


	6. Chapter Four: An Unexpected Surprise

From here it will be similar but not exactly like the Naruto series AND Halo series mixed, with twists and turns to the plot, all leading up to the main storyline, which will be revealed along the way!

Thanks for reading, please review and/or comment.

Moving right along… this is where it really begins!

Chapter Four: Un**expected** **Surprise**

"Warning… Warning… Security alert; security breach, floor two, section 5: Moving target." The computer sounded so calm, so organized, as though nothing was really wrong. Marine Umino, however, became more and more frustrated with every calm word the computer spoke. Currently he was fuming.

"Where did he go _this_ time?" He asked nobody in particular.

The other people around him, going about their various tasks, tried to hide snickers; Iruka Umino didn't really scare anyone, and they all knew who he was after today; same person as yesterday, and the day before that.

"Warning… unauthorized personnel on floor two, section 5, brie_vvvffffffssss_" The computer cut out suddenly and Iruka became red with anger; the one he was after had messed with the system, probably slicing through it instead of the normal stealthy way of unplugging it. And Iruka would be held responsible.

"NARUTO!" He yelled. This time people around him cringed and frowned, but they weren't the same people who had laughed; Iruka was now racing down the halls towards the briefing room, passing by many people.

On any ordinary being-invaded-by-covenant day, dozens of marines as well as a Spartan or two would be heading towards the 'invaded' room, weapons on the ready.

However, everyone knew who was up there today: same person (or should I say Spartan) as always was breaching security, making Iruka's life interesting: Uzumaki Naruto, Spartan UN-403. 'UN' did not stand for Uzumaki Naruto, however, despite what Naruto claimed; it stood for 'Unofficial', as Naruto had not yet acquired a squad of his own.

However, the boy had recently passed the final test needed to acquire a squad to train in, and since then he had gotten even worse with his pranks; Iruka never told anyone, but he really only passed Naruto in hopes that he would mature.

Well, those hopes were crushed.

Now, just about angry enough to snipe UN-403 at point blank range, Iruka dashed towards the briefing room, which he believed was the room the computer had been about to mention before Naruto had cut the cords.

Right as he was about to push through the sliding doors, he heard a noise behind him and saw his target running in the other direction, towards the stairs to floor one.

"Naruto! COME BACK HERE NOW!"

To most marines, chasing a 12-year-old Spartan kid (And loosing at that) that you're supposed to be teaching and training in discipline would have been very embarrassing, not to mention humiliating. But Iruka was used to this from Naruto, as well as a list of other bad habits that Naruto had:

Sleeping during class, like the Nara Spartan,

Eating during class, like the Akimichi Spartan,

Sneaking out of class, like the Inuzuka Spartan, and

Publicly insulting the Lead Spartan, known as the Kage (The Lead Spartans originated in Japan)

The only reason UN-403 had NOT been booted out of the program a long time ago was because of his lineage, and his origin, which were well-kept, very precious secrets. Not even Iruka knew, and that was another reason he was so ticked off at the young Spartan he was now chasing down the stairs.

"Ha-ha! Catch me if you can, slow poke!" Naruto exclaimed, spinning off the bottom of the stairs and dashing down a hall. People dodged left and right to get out of his way: He was in full training armor, and even that could really hurt if you smash into it.

"NARUTO!" Iruka raced after him, but even a well trained marine's speed is no match for a toned-up Spartan's speed.

Through various halls they raced, bumping into various people. But Iruka could tell that Naruto was heading a certain direction, trying to get somewhere…

_Outside!_ He realized suddenly, as Naruto turned a corner heading towards the docking bay.

Being on planet earth was a pain in cases like this: Iruka Umino knew that the moment Naruto made it outside, the chase would be over, with the chaser loosing.

He was determined not to let that happen.

He slid to a stop next to a control room and dashed in. The man who was at the control center for that room looked up, seemingly surprised at first, but as he saw that it was Iruka his look of surprise faded and he frowned.

"Which door now?" He asked quickly.

"Front! Door 007!" Iruka replied, panting. "Hurry!" he added.

The Control Man nodded, his face souring. He quickly typed in some keys, and the computer responded: "Door Zero-Zero-Seven, lockdown initiated." Iruka burst out of the room and rushed around the corner, crossing his fingers.

It worked. "Awww! Iruka-sensei, that's not fair!" The young Spartan complained as he banged on door seven. Iruka smirked. He could tell by the shields on Naruto's armor that the Spartan had run into the door full speed.

He spoke as though speaking to a young child; "_Well_, Naruto, that should teach you that just because you're a Spartan doesn't mean you can out-do marines, especially not your own teacher!" Iruka frowned now, and Naruto pouted through his helmet.

"Teacher Shmeacher! I wouldn't care if it was the Kage-Spartan chasing me, I wouldn't stop, because someday, I'm gonna be greater than they ever were!"

Iruka flinched and glanced around. Everyone was staring. To say something like that was extremely disrespectful, and not allowed… if an adult had said it, they could be shot on the spot for rebellion.

But Naruto was different. No one ever took him seriously. He was one of the worst failures of a Spartan Iruka had ever seen, and he still couldn't believe he had decided to pass him.

Still, unknown to Naruto, Iruka had a sliver of hope for him; the kid did have something, if not natural talent: Willpower. He worked harder than any kid Spartan his age in that area, and Iruka had some respect for that.

"Listen, Naruto! Do you even know _why_ I've been trying to talk to you?"

Naruto shrugged, not really caring. His eyes darted back and forth for a way to open the door.

"It's because today's squad day, and you're going to be late!" Iruka exclaimed, pointing to his watch. "They won't accept late students!"

That got Naruto's attention. He quickly glanced at the watch. "Th-that was today? Oh, man, I gotta get going, or else I might not be put on a squad that I like! See ya Iruka sensei!" With that Naruto darted off.

Iruka frowned: he was supposed to be there as well, and in fact he was supposed to be announcing who was on what squad. Thanks to Naruto, he'd be late as well. He shook his head in wonder as he darted after Naruto.


	7. Chapter Five: Why him!

**Chapter Five: Why him?**

The room was a large room, with seven rows of six seats each, split halfway through to make a walkway. There was an automatic sliding door at the back of the room and one on the left wall near the front of the room.

At the front of the room, facing the rows of chairs was a large metal desk, and a single chair behind that. Usually that desk had nothing but a Holographic Image Producer (Called 'Hip' for short) and a power-box to display a Super Computer on. Occasionally there would be a Homing-Plasma Pistol or an empty Brute Shot on display. Today, however, the desk was crowded with papers and books, things not often seen then, since virtual books were so popular and easy to carry around (Plus they saved the few hundred trees that were left in New Napora).

As Spartan UN-403 burst through the back door, hardly waiting for it to open, the desk was the first thing he noticed. "Whoa! Iruka sensei must really be getting old! Just look at all that paper!" He wasn't talking to anyone specifically, but he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

Many turned and stared at him; others just side-glared. He was well known as one of the most annoying Spartans there was in existence, and though he didn't know why, everyone just seemed to ignore him and avoid him, and though none teased him to his face in fear of punishment, he often heard their whispers of dislike.

It had been this way since he was young, him being an 'orphan' Spartan.

An orphan Spartan was either a Spartan that didn't have a clan or a Spartan that didn't have a clear record of who they were cloned from. The latter of the two was a very rare occurrence, for records were well kept, but as far as Naruto and the other young Spartans knew, both cases applied to Naruto. Perhaps that was why he was viewed as an outcast. Perhaps for a deeper reason.

Whatever the case, it didn't matter to him today. All that mattered was that he was finally graduating from the Spartan Academy, and would finally be assigned to a real squad, which would consist of three student Spartans and one 'sensei' (Japanese word for Teacher) Spartan. He grinned, forgetting about the desk as he looked around at all the familiar faces (Or armor, if they didn't have a clear visor on their helmet/didn't take it off). He let out a snicker and began to walk forwards, when suddenly another Spartan student stepped in his way. He looked up in surprise and quickly recognized Spartan UN-389 looking at him with a lazy, annoyed look. UN-389, like usual, didn't have his training helmet on; it was tucked under his right arm. He frowned at Naruto, who gave him a weird look in return.

"Shikamaru? What's up?" he asked.

The Spartan known as Shikamaru couldn't believe that Naruto couldn't guess what he was going to say.

"Naruto," he began, "What are _you_ doing here? Only students who _passed_ the test are supposed to be here today."

Naruto straightened and grinned. "Ha! You must've slept through the announcements, because incase you didn't notice, I passed!" Naruto waved a shiny object in the air and Shikamaru sarcastically squinted to see it better.

He sighed. "Just as I feared," he said, turning away and shaking his head. "If they had to put your passing of the test in the _announcements_, I wonder what they'll do to announce who you're on a squad with…"

Naruto frowned as Shikamaru left to sit down again. "Yeah, whatever!" Naruto grumbled.

The object he had been holding up was an official Spartan Forehead Protector, AKA 'headband' that would be portrayed on the individualized armor the young Spartans who passed the test would receive later that day (Some that were in specific clans, such as Shino Aburame, already had individualized armor). It had the mark of a Spartan created at Sub-Base 03 (A sub-base within New Napora's base 93), also known as 'Base Konoha', and it was the official mark of a Spartan. It was a big thing for young Spartans, for it meant that they would be respected as true warriors, prepared to fight and defend any area needed. It meant that they were strong and smart, and had passed the test, and were prepared to go on missions… or it meant that for most.

However, it didn't have to be worn on the forehead; it could be worn anywhere it would be in sight. This allowed for some individuality that younger Spartans often wished to exhibit.

Now Naruto proudly slapped his onto his training helmet and looked around for a place to sit… more so, a person to sit by. Most were dressed in training armor, and so it took him a while to pick out the person he was looking for. His face brightened when he saw her. He didn't notice that she was about to sit by someone else.

"Hey, Sakura!" he called, jogging over to her.

Sakura Haruno, Spartan UN-397, looked quickly in his direction and immediately frowned when she recognized him. "Nooooo…" she mumbled in exasperation.

She turned to him and put on a smile, but her inner self was fuming. _Why him? Why did he have to notice me! Arg, if I had sat down a minute earlier, or put down my visor!_

Naruto grinned at her. "Well, looks like we both passed, eh, Sakura?" He grinned so wide she felt like puking. Everything about him repelled her, she had decided. Plus, he had a thing for her, and that left her completely annoyed. She was about to reply when Iruka Umino burst through the side door, sweating.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone! Take a seat, hurry now. We have to have this done by the end of the hour." Iruka began shuffling through papers, looking for certain ones.

Relieved, Sakura quickly slipped in next to the Spartan she had been hoping to sit by… Sasuke Uchiha. It was a bonus point for her that Iruka had come in then: it meant that she didn't have to ask Sasuke (Who was not wearing his training helmet) if she could sit with him and risk rejection (though she HIGHLY doubted that would have been the case). She had to sit next to him, because class was about to begin.

Unfortunately for her, it meant the same thing for Naruto. Sakura was about to greet Sasuke when Naruto slipped in next to her. "Whew, good timing!" he exclaimed.

Sakura groaned again. "Naruto! Why don't you go sit by somebody else for a change?"

Naruto, putting on a hurt expression, was about to reply when he noticed Sasuke.

And Sasuke noticed him.

Naruto and Sasuke had sort of had an unspoken rivalry since the day they met during class with Iruka. Naruto had inwardly promised himself to never lose to Sasuke, but every time they competed, Sasuke handled things more smoothly—and often more smartly—than Naruto.

Things came naturally for Sasuke: strength, smarts, cool, and of course, looks. Not so for Naruto. He worked his butt off everyday for the strength he had, and he couldn't help his annoyingly curious nature.

And though Naruto didn't realize it, Sasuke often had trouble staying ahead of Naruto in competitions; however, he made it _look_ so easy, everyone thought it was easy for him.

Now Naruto glared at Sasuke, and Sasuke glared back. "What is _he_ doing here?" Naruto asked no one in particular, pointing an armored hand at Sasuke accusingly and squinting his eyes.

Sasuke, hands folded in front of his mouth and elbows on the table, didn't flinch. "I was about to ask the same thing about you, Naruto. Didn't you fail the test for the fifth time?"

Naruto growled in frustration at Sasuke. Sasuke had never failed at anything he did, it seemed. This had been his first time taking the test, and he had aced it; he had tied for highest score in the whole class.

Naruto, on the other hand, had the lowest scores in the test and in fact had only passed because Iruka had taken pity on him.

Sasuke smirked at him.

Naruto leaned forward, giving him a darker look.

Sasuke closed his eyes, obviously not threatened.

Naruto leaned even further, growling in his throat.

Finally, Sakura (Who was sitting between them) couldn't take it any longer.

"'!" Every other word she virtually smashed him on the head, and by the word 'back' Naruto's shields gave out and he felt a large bump on his head.

"B-but Sakura-chan—" he began, rubbing his head. "Why are you always on his side?"

Sakura was ignoring him, taking this as a chance to talk to Sasuke.

"I'm sorry about him, heheheh, I don't even know how he got in here!" she said apologetically.

Sasuke frowned. "Hmph. So annoying," he said quietly.

"Alright, listen up!" Iruka said, standing to get the attention of the talking crowds of people.

"We have a special guest today, from Home Base 15, the base that decided where and when you all would get your squads. Admiral K'torski sent him to give a small announcement about student placings before I announce who's on each squad, so listen up! Please welcome… Elite Ver'uko!"

There was absolute silence when the word 'Elite' was heard.

While training, young Spartans often got to fight with (And occasionally against) virtual Elites, and learned how they talked and acted. They had seen movies of Elites and Spartans fighting together on the battle field. When they were young children, an older Elite had given a demonstration with a plasma grenade.

But it had been years since an Elite had come right into the school for any occasion, and they had never seen one dressed in battle armor… such as the one they were seeing now, a black Elite.

The side door had opened, and Ver'uko had entered. He seemed to be frowning, but it was hard to tell. He was holding a computer chip in his right hand, and he walked up to Umino's desk without hesitation and slipped it into the desk's side. Immediately the virtual image producer brought up a picture of the Konoha Base.

The Elite looked grimly up.

"Your human leader of Home Base 15, Admiral K'torski, did not expect so many of you to pass the test this month… not just in this base, but in all other bases that are producing Spartans such as you."

As he spoke, UN-389, Shikamaru, looked up curiously. He didn't think it was very often that a human Admiral would send an Elite to give announcements about Spartans, much less young Spartans. He now listened carefully; something had to be up.

Ver'uko continued grimly.

"There are enough students potentially graduating in Konoha this year for ten squads… that's thirty students, more than Konoha has ever had at one time."

The students (With the exception of Sasuke and Shikamaru) in the room looked around at each other, murmuring with interest.

"Unfortunately for you…" Ver'uko said loudly, bringing everyone to silence, "only up to twelve of you will pass the final test needed to become Genin Spartan, and that is the test your sensei gives you. The reason is because in this area we are running low on A and S-ranked Spartans, _Jonin_ Spartans, and many must be available to carry out missions in dangerous battle zones where they couldn't bring a squad… and there are now _many _dangerous battle zones. Therefore only four Jonin will be able to break off main-duty missions to train a squad. Because of this the task your sensei gives you may be harder than the tasks normally given."

There was a worried chatter among some students, and groans from others. It quickly quieted as the Elite looked around the room in what might have been an annoyed glare.

"I was sent to warn you all of this. The fighting has increased near other planets the Elites and humans protect, and we are at a stalemate with the enemy." Ver'uko backed up a step.

"That is all," he said, turning to Iruka.

Iruka nodded. "Thank you."

With that, Ver'uko left. Shikamaru frowned. He still wondered why they would send an Elite. He shrugged to himself. _None of my business, I guess. Probably sent him because we wouldn't take a Marine seriously… or maybe all the marines from his area have died already._

He shrugged and yawned.

Iruka cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone! You've each been assigned to a squad that consists of three D-rank Spartans, or _Genin_ Spartans. I will now name off who is on each squad. Squad One…"

Sakura glanced sideways at Sasuke, already having forgotten about the Elite. I _really hope I'm on a squad with him!_

She shifted in her seat, then suddenly sensed someone watching her. She glanced behind her to see Spartan UN-395, InoYamanaka, sitting in the row behind her. Her long time rival looked down at her with disapproval.

"Sakura," the pretty blond Spartan began, "You aren't hoping to be on a squad with Sasuke, are you? I mean, think about it… _you _with _him_? It's hopeless."

Sakura frowned, knowing very well that Ino wanted to be on Sasuke's squad just as bad as she did.

"Oh, Ino… you're just jealous that I was invited to sit with him!" Sakura said, inching closer to him.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "_Invited_?" He stated incredulously. "You know I can hear you—"

"Hey wait a minute Sakura!" Naruto interrupted. "You aren't gonna be on a squad with him, cuz you're gonna be on my squad!"

Sakura glared at Naruto, and Ino giggled. "Looks like it's settled, Sakura!"

"Squad three consists of…" Iruka kept speaking, but the young Spartans weren't listening.

"Not a chance!" Sakura retorted. "My scores were _way_ too high to have me put on his squad!" Then she smirked. "If I remember correctly, they were higher than yours… therefore, closer to Sasuke's scores. I'm definitely on his squad!"

It was Ino's turn to glare. "My scores were only slightly lower than yours, and only because Shikamaru was right behind me and was snoring loudly!"

"The members of squad five are…"

Shikamaru, who was stuck sitting to Ino's right, frowned. "I _told_ you, I don't snore."

"Actually, you do," Naruto said in a matter-of-fact way.

Ino ignored both of them. "Yup, Sasuke's definitely going to be on my squad. Have you seen us work together? We're _perfect_, just meant to be together!"

Sasuke frowned. "Don't _I _get any say in this matter?" He asked sarcastically.

Sakura and Ino gave each other one last deathly glare, then turned to listen to Iruka, and not a moment to soon.

"That is squad six. Now, onto squad seven…" Iruka looked up to quiet the excited members of the first six squads. His eyes flashed over the trio that had just been bickering.

"Member one… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at Iruka in surprise.

"Member two… Haruno Sakura."

"YEAH!" Naruto stood up and raised his fists in a cheer. Sakura groaned and dropped her head. "Why Naruto?" She said hopelessly.

"And member three… Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto and Sakura virtually switched roles. "Yes!" Sakura exclaimed, raising a fist in triumph.

Naruto groaned loudly. "No way, why him?"

Iruka ignored them and continued.

"Squad eight… member one is Aburame Shino, member two is Hyuga Hinata, and member three is Inuzuka Kiba."

Shino side glanced at Hinata and Kiba, but didn't turn his head enough for them to notice; he had a wide, dark visor and he wore sunglasses below it. He noticed, in mild surprise, that Hinata looked slightly disappointed. He assumed she must have had expectations to be with someone else, though she didn't dislike anyone.

Kiba, on the other hand, was giving Shino a cautious frown. He obviously didn't want to be with Shino, though he didn't seem to mind Hinata. A bark erupted from his side. Shino glanced down at a small white dog in specially crafted white armor that covered everything but the dog's head. The Inuzuka were a strange people, he decided.

Many years ago a Spartan with no special ability but a great love for animals and a brilliant mind had been injured and unable to fight any longer, having lost his leg. In his loneliness, he went to observe a scientist who was cloning a Spartan, and he thought to himself, 'why not have companions for injured Spartans? Dogs, perhaps, who are very smart and loyal, and strong as well.'

Thus he began program 'INUZUKA', a program that bred (And experimented on) stronger and smarter dogs than was average, and eventually he came up with a 'Spartan Dog,' a dog who's intelligence had been so maxed that some could even learn to talk, and whose body and muscle structure was virtually 100 times stronger than that of a normal dog. Besides this the dog was faster, more agile, had more stamina, and could withstand some amount of plasma burns.

However, because of all these bonuses, the dogs grew much slower than normal and weren't fully grown usually until the ages 4 or 5. The dogs lived much longer than normal dogs, their lifespan between 20-30 years.

When he presented the first one to the admiral at that time, the admiral was so impressed he decided to make some of these dogs into fighting units, and not just companions. However, it turned out that the dogs had a strong need for human (or Spartan) leadership in their lives, and so each fighting-type Inuzuka dog was assigned to a specific Spartan. This went on until certain Spartans could virtually understand the dog's language, and communicate by speaking human back to the dog.

These Spartans were cloned and advanced, given abilities that could be bound with the dogs, and so came about the Inuzuka clan.

"Squad ten…" Shino realized he had been drifting and quickly snapped back to attention.

Iruka continued: "Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji…" the two boys high-fived each other. "…And Yamanaka Ino." Ino gawked.

"M-me? Stuck with _them_? This can't be happening! I'm stuck with the laziest and chubbiest Spartans in existence!"

"Those are the squad placings. Go to the armory room to pick up your specialized armor, then meet with your sensei. You should be ready in half an hour. Come up here with your squad to get the room assignments for where you meet your sensei. Dismissed!"

Naruto and Sakura were the first to Iruka, and Sasuke trailed behind casually.

"Iruka sensei! Iruka sensei!" Naruto ran over to Iruka's desk, frowning deeply and yelling to get Iruka's attention.

"Why do I have to be placed with _that _guy? He's way below me!" He said, pointing accusingly behind him where Sasuke now stood. Sasuke frowned.

Iruka also frowned. "Naruto," he said, as though speaking to a child, "we try to even out power in the squads. We try to put the best scores with the worst scores, along with a middle score." Iruka smirked then.

"_Sasuke's_ score was the highest: _your_ score was the lowest. Therefore, it was only best to put you on the same team, to even out the power."

Sasuke sighed. "Just don't get in my way… looser."

Naruto spun around to face him, fuming. "GRRR…. It isn't fair, Iruka sensei! How could my score be any lower than _his_?" Iruka stood up angrily and Naruto turned to face him, frowning deeply. "It's final, Naruto! You're lucky you even passed the test… lucky I needed one more person to get exactly thirty! Now go get into your real armor before you run out of time! If you're late you automatically fail your sensei's test. Now get going!"

With a mumble of complaint and the realization that Sakura and Sasuke had already left, Naruto dashed for the door."Wait up, Sakura! I'm coming to!"

Iruka shook his head. It seemed so hopeless sometimes. Yet he had this feeling…the same feeling that had made him allow Naruto to pass the test in the first place. It was unexplainable, but ever present.

He looked down lazily to see who Naruto and the rest of squad sevens' sensei would be. When he saw the name his eyes widened and his heart practically skipped a beat. Naruto's chance of passing his sensei's test had just gone from slim to virtually nonexistent.

**~COMING UP: Chapter Eight!**

**Why is Iruka so sure Naruto will fail? What happens if he does? Will the others fail? Who is their sensei, and what kind of test does he have for them? And why did the Admiral send an Elite instead of a high ranking officer? Find out next time!**

**Random Naruto: Go back and watch the arc with Zabuza and Haku in it, then go ahead to the last few episodes of Naruto that aren't shippuuden. See a graphics difference? What about a difference in Naruto's structure (Has he grown? Did the artist change him)? See how quickly things move compared to how they used to?**


End file.
